AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

AngloGold Ashanti PLC (NYSE:AU)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $90.87, but opened at $85.98. AngloGold Ashanti shares last traded at $85.7080, with a volume of 854,127 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AU shares. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of AngloGold Ashanti in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research lowered shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of AngloGold Ashanti from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 6th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of AngloGold Ashanti from $134.00 to $133.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, AngloGold Ashanti has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.00.

AngloGold Ashanti Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $42.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a current ratio of 2.71. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.46.

AngloGold Ashanti (NYSE:AU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The mining company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.27 by $0.25. AngloGold Ashanti had a net margin of 31.11% and a return on equity of 36.41%. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that AngloGold Ashanti PLC will post 9.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AngloGold Ashanti Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th were given a $1.16 dividend. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 29th. This is a positive change from AngloGold Ashanti’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. AngloGold Ashanti’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AngloGold Ashanti

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AU. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of AngloGold Ashanti by 5.9% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,136,739 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $361,310,000 after buying an additional 284,017 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in AngloGold Ashanti during the fourth quarter worth about $13,777,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC bought a new stake in AngloGold Ashanti in the 4th quarter worth about $1,139,000. Sprott Inc. increased its stake in AngloGold Ashanti by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 770,670 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $54,201,000 after buying an additional 16,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of AngloGold Ashanti during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,523,000. 36.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AngloGold Ashanti

AngloGold Ashanti is a global gold mining company engaged in the exploration, development, production, processing and sale of gold. Headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, the company’s core activities span the full mining value chain from greenfield exploration and mine development through to ore processing and rehabilitation. Gold is the primary commodity produced, with individual operations sometimes yielding other by‑products depending on local geology and processing methods.

The company was formed in 2004 through the merger of AngloGold and Ashanti Goldfields, creating a diversified international gold producer.